Quotations

The interior place where we experience God

The interior place where we experience God is the same kind of place, and as real, as the place where we experience music and poetry.

~ Karen Armstrong

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Sabbath

Most people mistakenly believe that all you have to do to stop working is not work. The inventors of the Sabbath understood that it was a much more complicated undertaking. You cannot downshift casually and easily. This is why the Puritan and Jewish Sabbaths were so exactingly intentional. The rules did not exist to torture the faithful. They were meant to communicate the insight that interrupting the ceaseless round of striving requires a surprisingly strenuous act of will, one that has to be bolstered by habit as well as by social sanction.

~ Judith Shulevitz

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Fragrant spring of our creation

It sometimes seems to me that holiness, the quintessence of holiness, is as elusive as that strange fragrance in the air which heralds spring. We cannot define precisely where the scent lies, nor analyze exactly the color of the bird, nor yet assign to an invisible musical scale the plaintive bleat of the lamb, nor to a paint box the fleeting blue of the sky: a stirring in the blood, an impulse toward adventure, rough moorland, woodland paths... No, holiness is not to be defined. It is a living, glorious rebirth...an active condition, not a struggle with or against self, but a struggle for self, to bring oneself back, back to that pure and fragrant spring of our creation.

~ from IKONS by John Tavener and Mother Thekla

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Nature heals and gives strength

Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray, where nature heals and gives strength to body and soul alike.

~ John Muir

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To honor the sacred

The earth is a living, conscious being. In company with cultures of many different times and places we name these things as sacred: air, fire, water, and earth. Whether we see them as the breath, energy, blood, and the body of the Mother, or as the blessed gifts of a Creator, or as symbols of the interconnected systems that sustain life, we know that nothing can live without them... To honor the sacred is to create conditions in which nourishment, sustenance, habitat, knowledge, freedom, and beauty can thrive. To honor the sacred is to make love possible. To this we dedicate our curiosity, our will, our courage, our silences, and our voices. To this we dedicate our lives.

~ from THE FIFTH SACRED THING by Starhawk

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Yields a new thought with every petal

The exceeding beauty of the earth, in her splendor of life, yields a new thought with every petal.

~ Richard Jefferies

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All of God's creatures

All of God's creatures have divine knowledge within, even the tiniest ant, and we're all trying to get in step and march to the Divine Music.

~ from TALES OF THE HASIDIM by Martin Buber

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The beauty of the earth

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.

~ Rachel Carson

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Take heart with the day

Every day is a fresh beginning.
Listen my soul to the glad refrain.
And, in spite of old sorrows
And older sinning,
Troubles forecasted
And possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again.

~ Susan Coolidge

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Growing in love

Gardening can provide an opportunity to slow down, be still, breathe, and connect with another form of life. For me, it is an experience of communion; I become one with this precious life in my garden and it heightens my experience of love in the world. And that is what spirituality is all about: growing in love.

~ from GROWING MYSELF by Judith Handelsman

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Quiet passage

All around us, life arises and decays in complicated, in-between spaces. The human challenge is to make a similar confident, quiet passage through the paradoxes of life.

~ Rick Bass

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Your soul is alive

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has the power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.

~ Eleanor Duse

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Human consciousness

Human consciousness, then, should not be what utterly separates us from the rest of "nature." Rather, consciousness is where this dance of energy organizes itself in increasingly unified ways, until it reflects back on itself in self-awareness. Consciousness is and must be where we recognize our kinship with all other beings. The dancing void from which the tiniest energy events of atomic structures flicker in and out of existence and self-aware thoughts are kin along a continuum of organized life-energy...

~ from GAIA AND GOD by Rosemary Radford Ruether

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Participating in divinity

When before the beauty of a sunset or a mountain, you pause and exclaim, "AH," you are participating in divinity.

~ ancient Hindu text as quoted in EVERYDAY GRATITUDE

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Wonder beyond words

To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe—to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it—is a wonder beyond words.

~ Joanna Macy and Molly Brown in COMING BACK TO LIFE: THE UPDATED GUIDE TO THE WORK THAT RECONNECTS

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The earth delights

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

~ Kahlil Gibran

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Something of the marvelous

In all things of nature
there is something
of the marvelous.

~ Aristotle

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The heart of the universe

Throughout my life, by means of my life, the world has little by little caught fire in my sight, until, a flame all around me, it has become almost luminous from within. Such has been my experience in contact with the Earth. The diaphany of the divine at the heart of the universe on fire.

~ from THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Teilhard de Chardin

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We are simple dust and spirit

The word humility, like the human, comes from humus, or earth. We are most human when we do no great things. We are not so important; we are simple dust and spirit—at best, loving midwives, participants in a process much larger than we. If we are quiet and listen and feel how things move, perhaps we will be wise enough to put our hands on what waits to be born, and bless it with kindness and care.

~ from SABBATH by Wayne Muller

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A gift to be celebrated with joy

The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.

~ from THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON by Henri J. M. Nouwen

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It holds together everything in love

The way of hubris . . . pretends that we can be well by dispersing, by breaking down life's oneness into entirely unrelated compartments. And it pretends that we can be well by depriving, by denying to others and to other species what we ourselves most cherish. "By way of contrast," says Hildegard [of Bingen], "humility does not rob people or take anything from them. Rather, it holds together everything in love." The way of humility . . . remembers the sacred Ground of being within us all. And it knows that we will be truly well to the extent that we love one another.

~ from A NEW HARMONY by John Philip Newell

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Cooperation and humbleness always go together

Cooperation and humbleness always go together. Humbleness is seeing that everyone's path through earth school is as difficult as yours, and as important. It is not pretending that you are meek, or inferior. It is making the music together that cannot be made alone, and that cannot be made without the music that only you, alone, can make.

~ from SOUL STORIES by Gary Zukav

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To remind us who we are

We need a coat with two pockets. In one pocket there is dust, and in the other pocket there is gold. We need a coat with two pockets to remind us who we are.

~ a Hasidic tale

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To pray and to be humble

If we will only learn silence, we will learn two things: to pray and to be humble. You cannot love unless you have humility, and you cannot be humble if you do not love. From the silence of the heart God speaks.

~ Mother Teresa

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A humble attitude

A humble attitude requires an agile spirit, one that "shakes the dust off" and moves on. The modern world equates humility with submission, which breeds nothing but guilt or self-loathing, that leaves one preoccupied with "worthlessness" and stuck in a narcissistic loop. True humility liberates and produces self-love and love of others, not guilt or resentment... And authentic humility generates power by taking radical responsibility for ourselves, even responsibility (though not blame) for things beyond our control. Humility is a discipline in search of the true spiritual goal—to love.

~ Rose Marie Berger

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Held so delicately

In the beginning, there was Love, and Love created and thus became Creator. I give all honor and glory and my humblest gratitude to the Creator for giving me the gift of life in Love held so delicately in each and every breath, and for guiding me to an experience where I could learn the power, magic, and understanding of just how incredible this gift really is. For the rest of my life, I will do everything within my power to honor, cherish, and protect this gift of life that connects us all.

~ from THE LEGACY OF LUNA by Julia B. Hill

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Humbleness

Humbleness: the awareness of our dependence on Spirit and the awareness of our need for and interdependence with other human beings and the world around us on all levels.

~ Edmund Helminski

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To be of benefit and service

I believe that any human activity which stems from basic gentleness and the nonviolent nature of human beings has the guarantee to be of benefit and service.

~ the Dalai Lama

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Persevere in humble faith

Look well, O soul, upon thyself, lest spiritual ambition should mislead and blind thee to thy essential task: to wait in quietness, to knock and persevere in humble faith.

~ from THE FACE OF GOD by Gilbert Shaw

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Be humble

Be humble in your perpetual uncertainty.

~ Paul Pearsall

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The wonder of the simplest gifts

Cultivating gratitude opens us to allurement, strengthens our trust, and expands our compassion. Gratitude manifests in the midst of our everyday living when we pause to take account of how much we have been given. We are present to the wonder of the simplest gifts: a glass of water, a spoonful of food, a breath of air. At such times our hearts are full.

~ Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow in "EarthLight," Summer, 2001

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In my hand

winter rain
the warmth of your hand
in my hand

~ Jeannie Martin

Jeannie Martin hands

The thumb alone would convince me

In the absence of other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence.

~ Sir Isaac Newton

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Our hands before our eyes

All the powers of the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.

~ Swami Vivekenanda

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Of my hands

Of my hands I give to you, O Lord
Of my hands I give to you.
I give to you as you gave to me
Of my hands I give to you.

~ from hymn by Ray Repp

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I have held many things in my hands

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

~ Martin Luther

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Shake hands

You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.

~ Gandhi

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In our palms

Just as a pebble thrown into the water creates ripples, so our thoughts create similar effects in our palms.

~ Michael Scotts

Michael Scotts hands

Good human work

Good human work honors God's work. Good work uses no thing without respect, both for what it is in itself and for its origin. It uses neither tool nor material that it does not respect and that it does not love. It honors nature as a great mystery and power, as an indispensable teacher, and as the inescapable judge of all work of human hands.

~ Wendell Berry in THE ART OF THE COMMONPLACE

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The hands will solve a mystery

Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.

~ Carl Jung

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Each is present in your body

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see our parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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With both hands

Hold a true friend with both hands.

~ Nigerian proverb

Nigerian proverb hands

The hand that gives the rose

The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.

~ Heda Bejar

Heda Bejar hands

God has given us two hands

God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.

~ Billy Graham

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It will land in your hand

Love is like a butterfly. If you chase after it, it will fly away. But if you are patient, and wait long enough, it will land in your hand.

~ Unknown

hands

The work of our hands

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us, establish the work of our hands.

~ Ps. 90:17

hands

Each human hand

What shall I do
with this quiet joy?
It calls forth the expanse
of my soul, calls
it forth to go singing
through the world...
to collect the rain
in my hands
and spill it
like laughter...
to bear into this world
a place where light will glisten
the edge of every wing
and blade of grass,
shine along every hair on every head,
gleam among the turnings of every wave,
glorify
the turning open of each life,
each human hand.

~ from "Magnificat" by Christina Hutchins

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Hands are beautiful

Touch and the world of touch bring us out of the anonymity of distance into the intimacy of belonging. Humans use their hands to touch—to explore, to trace, and to feel the world outside of them. Hands are beautiful. Kant said that the hand is the visible expression of the mind. With your hands, you reach out to touch the world. In human touch, hands find the hands, face, or body of the Other. Touch brings presence home... The energy, warmth, and invitation of touch come ultimately from the divine. The Holy Spirit is the wild and passionate side of God, the tactile spirit whose touch is around you, bringing you close to yourself and to others.

~ from ANAM CARA: A BOOK OF CELTIC WISDOM by John O'Donohue

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What does the future hold

The past is past, no need to wonder; the present is now, where our love grows daily. What does the future hold? That's up to us. It seems the best thing to do is what we're doing right now, holding on to each other with love in the calm of the eye of the storm, with only one intent: to love one another as we are—completely—as two people raising each other up, as we move through this thing we call life.

~ from DEAREST WAIKI by Marilyn Markham

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The shape of shadow and light

I am remembering a lifetime of trying to map
the shape of shadow and light,
To draw the clean edges of change
And what has made me an oddity
Asked me to live far more closely
To the center of all that awe and ache.

~ Carrie Newcomer

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